Dell OpenManage Deployment Toolkit Version 5.0.1 Command Line Interface Reference Guide

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Creating Virtual Disks

The following table lists the RAIDCFG options, parameters, and predefined arguments for creating virtual disks.

NOTE: If you create a virtual disk on Windows PE, reboot the system.

Table 1. Creating Virtual Disks
Mandatory Options and Arguments	Optional Parameters	Valid Parameters Arguments	Description
`-ctrl -ac=cvd` `-c=id` `-ad= ch:targ,ch:targ`, `... [or ch:targ:encl,...]` or `controller action= createvdisk` `controllerid= id` `adisk= channel:target: lun,... channel:target: lun,...` `[or channel:target: enclosure,...]`	NA	NA	Creates a virtual disk comprising the properties supplied. This option combination is mandatory. NOTE: Create a bootable virtual disk only from the disk drives of slot 0-3 of the system. For SCSI controllers, the value of LUN should always be 0. For SAS controllers, the value of enclosure can be non-zero, in which case you must specify values for channel, target, and enclosure. Example: A:>raidcfg -ctrl -ac=cvd -c=2 -ad=1:4,1:8 -r=1 -ssz=32 -cp=d -rp=nra -wp=wt -fd=1:1 RAIDCFG Command successful!
	`-cp or cachepolicy`	d or e	Valid arguments for disk cache policy are: d — Disable e — Enable The `-cp` option is optional and can be added to the command line in any order after the mandatory option combination.
	`-fd or failoverdrive`	ch:targ, ch:targ, ... or ch:targ:lun,... or ch:targ:enc channel:target, or channel:target:l un, or channel:target: enclosure	Sets the failover drive for the virtual disk. The `-fd` option is optional and can be added to the command line in any order after the mandatory option combination. NOTE: From DTK 2.4 onwards, the -fd option creates dedicated hot spares instead of global hot spares. For information about setting global hot spares, see Assigning, Unassigning, And Listing Global Hot Spares . For SCSI controllers, the value of LUN should always be 0. For SAS controllers, the value of enclosure can be non-zero, in which case you must specify values for channel, target, and enclosure.
	`-r or -raid`	0, 1, 5, 6, 10, 50, 60	Sets the RAID type or level for the virtual disk. NOTE: If this option is not specified for any RAID controller, RAID 0 is taken as the default. The valid arguments are: 0 — RAID 0 uses data striping, which is writing data in equal-sized segments across the array disks. RAID 0 does not provide data redundancy. 1 — RAID 1 is the simplest form of maintaining redundant data. In RAID 1, data is mirrored or duplicated on one or more drives. 5 — RAID 5 provides data redundancy by using data striping in combination with parity information. Rather than dedicating a drive to parity, the parity information is striped across all disks in the array. 6 — RAID 6 is an extension of RAID 5 and uses extra parity block. It uses block-level striping with two parity blocks distributed across all member disks. RAID 6 provides protection against double disk failures and failures while a single disk is rebuilding. If there is only one array, RAID 6 may be a better option than a hot spare disk. 10 — RAID 10 is a stripe of mirrors. Multiple RAID 1 mirrors are created, and a RAID 0 stripe is created over RAID 1 mirrors. 50 — RAID 50 is a dual-level array that uses multiple RAID 5 sets in a single array. A single hard drive failure can occur in each of the RAID 5 without any loss of data on the entire array. Although the RAID 50 has increased write performance, when a hard drive fails and reconstruction takes place, performance decreases, data/program access is slower, and transfer speeds on the array are affected. 60 — RAID 60 is a combination of RAID 6 and RAID 0. A RAID 0 array is striped across RAID 6 elements. It requires at least 8 disks.
`-ctrl -ac=cvd` `-c=id` `-ad= ch:targ,ch:targ, ... [or ch:targ:encl,...]` or `controller action= createvdisk` `controllerid= id` `adisk= channel:target: lun, channel:target: lun,...` `[or channel:target: enclosure,...]`	`-rp or readpolicy`	ra, ara, nra, rc, nrc	CAUTION: If the controller is changed from SCSI to RAID mode, expect data loss to occur. Back up any data you want to save before changing the modes. Sets the SCSI read policy for the virtual disk. Specify the SCSI read policy for the logical drive. The valid arguments are: ra — (read-ahead) The controller reads sequential sectors of the disk when seeking data. ara — (Adaptive Read-Ahead) The controller initiates read-ahead only if the two most recent read requests accessed sequential sectors of the disk. If subsequent read requests access random sectors of the disk, the controller reverts to No-Read-Ahead policy. The controller continues to evaluate whether read requests are accessing sequential sectors of the disk and can initiate read-ahead if necessary. nra — (No-Read-Ahead) The controller does not read sequential sectors of the disk when seeking data. NOTE: The ra, ara, and nra options are supported on the following RAID controllers only: PERC 5/E Adapter, PERC 5/I Integrated, PERC 5/i Adapter PERC 6/i Integrated, PERC 6/i Adapter, PERC 6/E Adapter rc — (Read-Caching) Enables read caching. nrc — (No-Read-Caching) Disables read caching.
`-ctrl -ac=cvd` `-c=id` `-ad= ch:targ,ch:targ, ... [or ch:targ:encl,...]` or `controller action= createvdisk` `controllerid= id` `adisk= channel:target: lun,... channel:target: lun,...` `[or channel:target: enclosure,...]`	`-sp or spanlength`	`< number>`	Creates a virtual disk comprised of the properties supplied. The `-sp` option is optional and can be added to the command line in any order after the mandatory option combination. NOTE: Spanlength is applicable only for RAID 50 and RAID 60. The minimum permissible spanlength value for RAID 50 is 3 and for RAID 60 is 4. The number of array disks for creating a virtual disk should not be a prime number and should be divisible by the specified spanlength. NOTE: For creating RAID 10, the PERC 9 firmware suggests the layout (number of array disks) with uneven span (spans with unequal number of array disks), though in a span the number of disks remain even. For example, for 32 disks, RAID 10 is created with all the disks in one span and for 34 disks, RAID 10 is created with 16 disks in one span and 18 disks in the other span. For SCSI controllers, the value of LUN should always be 0. For SAS controllers, the value of enclosure can be non-zero, in which case you must specify values for channel, target, and enclosure.
`-ctrl -ac=cvd` `-c=id` `-ad= ch:targ,ch:targ, ... [or ch:targ:encl,...]` or `controller action= createvdisk` `controllerid= id` `adisk= channel:target: lun, channel:target: lun,...` `[or channel:target: enclosure,...]`	`-ssz or stripesize`	`< number>`	Sets the stripe size for the virtual disk. The stripe size is the amount of array disk space used on each array disk included in the stripe. A valid argument is a number that is less than the size of the virtual disk. The `-ssz`option is optional and can be added to the command line in any order after the mandatory option combination. However, do not specify a unit for stripe size when creating virtual disks. The unit is always displayed in KB. For SCSI controllers, the value of LUN should always be 0. For SAS controllers, the value of enclosure can be non-zero, in which case you must specify values for channel, target, and enclosure.
`-ctrl -ac=cvd` `-c=id` `-ad= ch:targ,ch:targ , ... [or ch:targ:encl,...]` or `controller action= createvdisk` `controllerid= id` `adisk= channel:target: lun, channel:target: lun,... [or channel:target: enclosure,..`	`-str or strict`	`< number>`	Strict (-str parameter) is the percentage of expected array disk utilization. Example: A:> raidcfg -ctrl -ac= cvd -c=0 -ad=0:0,0:1 - r=1 -str=20 If the unused portion of an array disk is greater than the mentioned percentage, raidcfg aborts. For SCSI controllers, the value of LUN should always be 0. For SAS controllers, the value of enclosure can be non-zero, in which case you must specify values for channel, target, and enclosure.
`-ctrl -ac=cvd` `-c=id` `-ad= ch:targ,ch:targ, ... [or ch:targ:encl,...]` or `controller action= createvdisk` `controllerid= id` `adisk= channel:target: lun,... channel:target: lun,... [or channel:target: enclosure,...]`	`-sz or -size`	`< number>`	Sets the maximum size of the virtual disk in MB or GB. A valid argument is a number representing the maximum size for the virtual disk. The `-sz`option is optional and can be the added to the command line in any order after the mandatory option combination. The minimum virtual disk size that you can create for various controllers is as follows: For PERC 5 controllers: RAID 0: 100 MB RAID 1: 100 MB RAID 5: 100 MB For PERC 6 controllers: RAID 0: 100 MB RAID 1: 100 MB RAID 5: 100 MB RAID 6: 100 MB RAID 60: 100 MB For PERC 7, PERC 8, and PERC 9 controllers: RAID 0: 100 MB RAID 1: 100 MB RAID 5: 100 MB RAID 6: 100 MB RAID 10: 100 MB RAID 50: 100 MB RAID 60: 100 MB Software RAID controllers: RAID 0: 100 MB RAID 1: 100 MB RAID 5: 100 MB RAID 10: 100 MB NOTE: If this option is not provided, RAIDCFG determines the maximum virtual disk size and creates it.
`-ctrl -ac=cvd` `-c=id` `-ad= ch:targ,ch:targ, ... [or ch:targ:encl,...]` or `controller action= createvdisk` `controllerid= id` `adisk= channel:target: lun,... channel:target: lun,... [or channel:target: enclosure,...]`	`-vdpi or vdiskprotectioninfo`	`0,1`	Creates a virtual disk with the T10 Protection Information (PI) feature enabled. NOTE: This option is supported only on PERC 9 controllers. Example: A:>raidcfg -ctrl -ac=cvd -c=2 -ad=1:4,1:8 -vdpi=1 RAIDCFG Command successful!
	`-wp or writepolicy`	wb, wt, wc, nwc, fwb	Sets the write policy for the virtual disk. The valid arguments are: wb — Write-Back caching sets the controller to send a write-request completion signal as soon as the data is in the controller cache but has not yet been written to disk. wt — Write-Through caching sets the controller to send a write-request completion signal only after the data is written to the disk. NOTE: The wb and wt options are supported on the following RAID controllers only: PERC 5/E Adapter, PERC 5/I Integrated, PERC 5/i Adapter PERC 6/i Integrated, PERC 6/i Adapter, PERC 6/E Adapter PERC 7, PERC 8, and PERC 9 wc — Write-Caching sets the controller to send a write-request completion signal only after the data is written to the disk. nwc — No-Write-Caching specifies that the controller does not send a write-request completion signal after the data is written to the disk. fwb — Force write-back caching, enables the write cache regardless of whether the controller has a battery. If the controller does not have a battery and force write-back caching is used, data loss may occur in the event of a power failure NOTE: The `-wp`option is optional and can be added to the command line in any order after the mandatory option combination. For SCSI controllers, the value of LUN should always be 0. For SAS controllers, the value of enclosure can be non-zero, in which case you must specify values for channel, target, and enclosure.
	`-sf or secureflag`	0, 1	Creates a secured virtual disk on controllers with encryption capability and encryption key. Example: A:>raidcfg -ctrl -ac=cvd -c=2 -ad=1:4,1:8 -sf=1 RAIDCFG Command successful!